Sitting in the passenger seat, Duan Pingyu suddenly spoke: "Hongbo, brother, you say the Ancient Loulan was so prosperous back in the day, why did it suddenly disappear?"

Zhan Hongbo heard this and gently shook his head: "There are various academic theories regarding the disappearance of Loulan, some say it was due to the diversion of the Talimu River, leading to a depletion of water sources."

"There are also theories about the impact of war or plague, but personally I lean more towards the theory of environmental deterioration."

Qi Yun was actually also quite curious about this part of history. Such a large country vanished rapidly in a short period, truly sparking endless imagination.

As for the coordinate location that appeared in that purple intelligence report, it generated even more speculation for him, yet currently the information is too scarce to uncover the truth.

At this moment, Mamati, focused on driving, suddenly spoke: "The slope of the dune ahead is quite steep, everyone hold tight."

Saying this, he picked up the walkie-talkie and gave a reminder to the other cars.

The vehicle bumped along the rolling dunes, with the boundless desert stretching to the horizon. Occasionally, some hardy camelthorn plants could be seen growing in the gravel.

Zhan Hongbo was rather talkative; while looking out the window, he spoke again: "Brother Qi, did you know? In the Loulan Ancient City, there was once unearthed a Kharosthi Wooden Scroll, recording the local people's application to the government for water use, which indirectly reflects the tension of water resources at the time."

"Kharosthi?" Qi Yun was a bit unfamiliar with the term.

"Yes." Zhan Hongbo explained, "That was an ancient script from the Central Asia region, many Kharosthi documents have been unearthed in the Loulan ruins, providing important materials for studying Loulan's history."

Qi Yun nodded slowly, suddenly recalling the scene of conversing in Wei Xueming's office.

"Hongbo, have you heard of a viewpoint claiming that Loulan's last king, by chance, obtained a stele and believed that stele was an oracle from the Sun God, leading to the path of eternal life."

"Later, the Xiong Nu learned about this news, sent troops to seize the stele, and annihilated the Loulan people."

"I've heard of this claim. It seems a historian from abroad proposed it many years ago." Zhan Hongbo chuckled and shook his head, "But personally I find this view too fantastical, like how the Jingjue Kingdom is said to be a Demon Country."

Qi Yun turned thoughtfully to look out the window, understanding from Zhan Hongbo's words that this person still leaned towards viewpoints closer to scientific reasoning.

At nine o'clock in the evening, the sky was still bright, the sun had not yet set, and a white crescent moon appeared in the sky.

After a whole day of travel, the convoy finally arrived at the first scheduled camp.

Four vehicles formed a circle next to a dune, facilitating tent setup while also providing good protection against wind and sand.

Even though it was already nighttime, the temperature in the desert still hadn't dropped, remaining as hot as a furnace.

To truly cool down, it would likely take another two to three hours.

The group set up tents around the vehicles, while Mamati retrieved a pre-marinated leg of lamb from the cooler in the car, beginning to prepare dinner.

His method was quite primitive, wrapping the marinated leg of lamb with aluminum foil, then digging a small pit to place the lamb inside, covering the surface with scalding sand.

This could be considered an alternative way of making Nang pit meat.

Duan Pingyu looked over with some curiosity: "Is lamb cooked like this tasty?"

"Many herdsmen cook like this, the roasted leg of lamb will be crispy on the outside and tender inside," Mamati brushed off the sand from his hands, "You'll know once you taste it later."

After setting up the tents, the other two guides, Old Tu and Da Ming, started checking the vehicle's condition, mainly focusing on the water tank, fuel, and tires, to avoid potential issues during tomorrow's journey.

At eleven in the evening, the hot temperature finally cooled down a bit, and the group of eight gathered together, enjoying the fragrant lamb meat.

After being roasted by the hot sand for two hours, when the aluminum foil was opened, the surface of the leg of lamb had turned golden brown.

The aroma of meat juice mixed with cumin burst forth, causing Duan Pingyu to swallow eagerly. For someone like him from outside, the lamb here was definitely top-notch.

Mamati took out disposable paper bowls and divided some for everyone using a small knife, and the group immediately began feasting.

After dinner, everyone crawled into their tents to rest, skipping steps like washing their faces.

In the summer desert, only the nighttime hours are relatively cool, so they have to make the most of the time to sleep.

Accompanied by the rustling sound of the wind blowing over the dunes, Qi Yun quickly fell into a deep sleep.

The next day, before dawn, the group set off again, still over a hundred kilometers away from their destination.

During this desert expedition, Qi Yun and the others were fortunate, encountering neither sandstorms nor stuck cars.

At around eleven in the evening, the convoy successfully reached the destination, which was the coordinate point mentioned in the intelligence.

This was a relatively flat sandy area, surrounded by some low dunes.

"Boss Qi, we've arrived." Mamati stopped the car and said.

Qi Yun pushed open the car door and stepped out, looking around but seeing nothing unusual about the area.

The outline of the dunes appeared soft under the moonlight, while sparse camelthorn swayed in the breeze on the sand, and the air was filled with a dry scent.

"Boss, why did we come here?" Duan Pingyu also got out of the car, kicking at the sand underfoot.

Qi Yun did not answer his question, instead, he turned to Mamati and asked, "Are you sure it's here?"

"The satellite positioning shows it's right here." Mamati held the GPS device, with the red dot of the coordinates flickering on the current location on the screen, "The error is no more than two kilometers."

Zhan Hongbo squatted down, grasping a handful of sand and rubbing it, speaking in surprise, "The sand in this place seems finer than elsewhere."

Qi Yun turned to look at him, suspiciously asking, "What's the significance of finer sand?"

Zhan Hongbo's gaze swept over the outlines of the surrounding dunes: "In deserts, the stratification of sand typically relates to geological structures. If a fine sand layer exists extensively, it could mean there's an ancient riverbed sediment below, or..."

"Or what?" Duan Pingyu asked next.

Zhan Hongbo pondered and ultimately shook his head: "It's nothing, probably unlikely."

Duan Pingyu opened his mouth but didn't say more.

Qi Yun withdrew his gaze, knowing that impatience won't get the answers, thus ordered everyone: "Let's set up camp first, get the tents up, we'll deal with other matters come morning."

"Alright."

Zhong Rui and the others responded in unison and began taking action.

After dinner, Qi Yun crawled into his tent ready for a rest, but Zhan Hongbo came over, softly calling outside the tent: "Brother Qi, can I chat with you for a bit?"

Qi Yun was slightly taken aback, but nonetheless unzipped the tent and crawled out, looking at the other with some puzzlement: "What do you want to talk about?"

Zhan Hongbo licked his lips, looking at Qi Yun with a gaze resembling seeing a revered teacher, his expression seeming to be filled with intense longing.

Qi Yun felt a bit uneasy under his gaze, stepped back a couple of steps: "Speak quickly if you have something to say, I'm quite tired and a bit sleepy."

Zhan Hongbo rubbed his palms and inexplicably spoke: "I now understand why the teacher suggested I come along with you."

"Why?" Qi Yun raised his eyebrows slightly and asked suspiciously.

"Before we set out, the teacher told me that you might have some clues, I didn't believe it at the time, after all, the Ancient Loulan disappeared over a thousand years ago, and only two or three sites have been discovered up to now." Zhan Hongbo paused for a moment, his gaze becoming even more fervent, "But when I saw the fine sand layer here, I believed it!"

"Brother Qi, you surely know something, don't you!"

"You're right to not believe it; Old Wei was teasing you." Qi Yun was a bit speechless, sighed, "If I had any definite clues, I wouldn't have brought just a few people here."

"But, you said earlier, after seeing the fine sand layer here, you believed it, why's that?"

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